The High Court in Galway awarded Patricia Dunne €56,737 after a 2018 road collision that left her with continuing symptoms in her left hand and anxiety about driving.
The defendants accepted liability for the collision. The court was asked to assess damages and, in a judgment delivered on 7 May 2021, awarded €36,000 for general damages to the date of judgment and €20,000 for future general damages. Together with agreed special damages, the total ordered was €56,737.
Dunne was 60 and driving when her car was struck on 26 January 2018, spun around and came to rest near a wall. She and her husband, who was a passenger and was also injured, were taken by ambulance to Mullingar Hospital.
She sustained fractures to the second, third and fifth metacarpal bones in her left hand. The fractures were treated conservatively. The court described the past and present condition of the hand as mild to moderate. Physiotherapy helped, but since 2020 she had continued to have some difficulty with zips, jars and picking things up. The judge said she would have some residual left-hand symptoms for the rest of her life.
The collision also caused a fracture of her sternum and bruising to the upper right side of her chest. For a few weeks, she struggled with stairs and slept downstairs with her husband. Her sleep was severely affected. The court described these injuries as mild to moderate and largely resolved, with some residual restriction in left shoulder movement. It considered her low-back pain minimal.
The court also considered the psychological effects. Dunne lost confidence in driving, particularly in difficult situations, and had received cognitive behavioural therapy on her general practitioner’s advice. A psychiatrist’s report said acute post-traumatic stress symptoms had reduced; another expert, Professor Thakore, considered that she had not suffered a recognisable psychiatric injury. The judge acknowledged the psychological impact while noting the experts’ good recovery prognosis.
In assessing damages, the court considered the injury evidence, counsel’s submissions on the Book of Quantum and the requirement of proportionality. The €20,000 future award reflected the continuing hand symptoms and psychological effects, which the judgment described as a “psychological dent” whether characterised as driver anxiety, reduced PTSD symptoms or psychological rather than psychiatric injury.